Enchantment Under The Sea
by iloveromance
Summary: Jennifer is confused when Marty insists on joining her on the planning committee for the upcoming November 5th, 1985 dance. But his reason for joining the committee makes her love him even more.
1. Chapter 1

In the hallway of Hill Valley High School, he stole one last kiss before the warning bell rang. Jennifer's heart raced, as it always did; not for fear that Strickland would catch them (they'd gone way past their limit for being late for class and Marty always took the blame for it), but because she loved Marty McFly so. She sighed, wishing that the kisses could go on forever and she couldn't resist letting her lips linger a little longer on his.

"I'll see you after school, okay?"

"Sure." The moment she replied and watched him walk away she called out his name. "Wait!"

He whirled around. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just remembered... I have a meeting after school and it will probably last about an hour."

He walked toward her and his smile disappeared. "Oh… Well, everything's okay, isn't it? I mean, you're not in trouble with Mr. Strickland or anything, are you?"

Her heart warmed. He was always looking out for her, even when he didn't realize it. "No, nothing like that. Everything is fine. It's not that kind of a meeting. In fact it's voluntary."

"Voluntary? You mean you just _volunteered_ to stay after school for some meeting?"

She averted her eyes. In hindsight it was kind of embarrassing but she hoped he would understand. "Well, yeah. It's just that… well I signed up for the dance planning committee and they're having a meeting this afternoon after school."

"Dance planning committee?"

"I know it's lame, but our parents are always wanting us to get involved, right?"

He looked at her thoughtfully. "Actually this is good. This is very good!"

"Marty, what are you talking about?"

"Where is this meeting?"

"In the gym, why?"

"Well I just… would it be all right if I came with you?"

His question caught her completely off-guard. "To the meeting?"

"Yeah."

"Well, um, sure. You'll probably be bored to death but you could just sit on the bleachers and do your homework or something."

"Actually I want to participate."

Her mouth fell open and she almost laughed out loud. "Participate? As in-."

"Yeah, you know, join the committee."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I-."

The warning bell rang and they shared a quick kiss before going their separate ways. But as she looked back at him running down the hallway to his class, she couldn't help but wonder. She wasn't concerned about being late for class yet again. She was thinking about Marty and wondering why he would possibly be interested in planning a high school dance.

It didn't make sense. But she supposed that sooner or later she'd find out what he was up to.

The thought stayed with her through her first class and continued to do so during the day. She was dying to talk to him but just couldn't find the time, even during the few classes that they had together. And so she realized that she'd just have to wait till school was out. But the clock seemed to move slower than ever before.


	2. Chapter 2

The minutes dragged by and Mr. Roland had barely finished giving the homework assignment when Jennifer bolted from her chair and hurried to the gym. She was out of breath when she arrived and more than a little disappointed to find that the gym was empty. But fortunately she wasn't alone for long. She felt a sigh of relief when the door opened and she saw Ms. Simms enter the gym. Her entrance was quickly followed by three other girls, who looked less than thrilled at the prospect of spending their after school time planning a high school dance. Jennifer supposed she couldn't blame them. After all, school took up way too much of their day as it was and staying after school meant less time to spend with Marty. But she found that she couldn't stop smiling.

Moments later more girls arrived, bringing the total to ten.

"All right, this looks like everyone who signed up, so why don't we have a seat over here? I've arranged to have a table in this corner so we won't be disturbed."

It was odd, seeing a long table from the cafeteria just under the basketball hoop, but she didn't question it. High school was supposed to be odd.

"Okay, let's get this meeting started, shall we?" Ms. Simms asked. "I know that we're all anxious to get home and watch _Family Ties_."

The girls laughed, including Jennifer. It was kind of cool to have a teacher at Hill Valley High who was in touch with popular TV shows. Maybe this meeting wouldn't be so bad after all. She was actually looking forward to it. But she couldn't help the twinge of disappointment when she noticed that someone was absent. He'd probably changed his mind and it was just as well.

"Now, the dance is scheduled for November 12th, which doesn't give us a lot of time. A few weeks to be exact." Ms. Simms explained. "But I think we can do it. Now-."

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. My locker was stuck and-."

At the familiar voice, Jennifer looked up, aware of the familiar skipping beat of her heart. "Marty…"

He was wearing his trademark orange vest over a denim jacket, plaid shirt and jeans with a pair of white Nikes. It was the same outfit he'd worn all day at school of course but she suddenly realized how cute he was. Definitely much cuter than any other boy at school.

"Can I help you?" Ms. Simms asked.

"Yeah, is this where the dance planning committee is meeting?"

"Well, yes, and if you want to wait for whomever you're waiting for, you're welcome to-."

"Actually I want to help."

The girls giggled and Jennifer took note of the surprised look on Ms. Simms face.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, if that's okay. Do I need to sign something or anything?"

"No, but-."

His eyes met Jennifer's and he sighed. "Oh man, I guess I was supposed to sign up, wasn't I? Well I didn't even know about it until Jennifer said-."

"It's all right." Ms. Simms said. "The more the merrier!"

Marty smiled. "Great, thanks. Sorry for the interruption." He extended his hand in greeting. "Oh, I'm Marty. Marty McFly."

"Pleased to meet you Marty. Now as I was saying, the dance is on November 12th so that doesn't give us a lot-."

"November 12th?" Marty almost shouted the date, bringing attention to himself.

Ms. Simms looked especially confused. "Yes, that's the date that the school has picked out. Is that a problem?"

"No, not at all. It's just that… November 12th? That's the day that I went back to-."

The group of girls was still staring at him, including Jennifer.

Marty grinned sheepishly. "I-I mean, that's the day I met the Doc at the mall. He was… showing me one of his new science experiments!" When he finished his explanation he sighed. "Sorry."

Ms. Simms looked a little annoyed. "So the dance is on November 12th so we need to come up with a theme. Let's brainstorm and see what we can come up with."

Everyone spoke at once, but Jennifer turned to Marty. "What are you doing here?"

"I told you, I want to help plan the dance."

"But why?"

He shrugged. "Look, we'll talk about it later, all right?"

"Marty-."

He slipped his hand into hers and gave her a discreet kiss.

"All right. So we have a Thanksgiving theme, a futuristic theme a fall theme and a fifties theme. Any other suggestions?" No one replied and Ms. Simms smiled. "Great, well we'll just take a quick vote and get on with the planning. All in favor of Thanksgiving?"

A few hands rose.

"Futuristic?"

Only one person raised her hand.

"Fall?"

A few other girls raised their hands.

"And finally Fifties."

Jennifer raised her hand, happy to see that Marty followed suit. In fact, he looked more enthusiastic than ever about it.

Ms. Simms smiled. "All right. A fifties theme it is!"


	3. Chapter 3

Marty was grinning from ear to ear, as though he'd won a contest and Jennifer couldn't help but smile.

"Now we'll need to create this dance." Ms. Simms said. "You know, start adding the details. So what should we call it? Any suggestions?"

Before anyone else could answer, Marty raised his hand.

"Yes, Marty?"

"I have a few, actually."

Ms. Simms smiled. "Great, I'm anxious to hear them."

"Why don't we call it _the Enchantment Under The Sea_ dance and have an undersea theme? You know with lots of blue and green streamers and fish and sea horses, and-."

The girls began to murmur their approval and Jennifer was astonished at Marty's enthusiasm. She and Marty had been dating for their entire high school existence but at that moment she felt as though she didn't know him at all.

"That sounds great. Anything else?"

"Yeah, we could have a live band called Marvin Berry and the Starlighters and make the place look like an undersea paradise-." His voice trailed away when he noticed the stares he was receiving. "Or not…"

"I think those are great ideas, Marty." Ms. Simms said. "Let's get to working on it right away. Now we'll need some parents to help chaperone and-."

Marty's hand shot up. "My parents will do it."

Jennifer couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Marty-."

"Sure, they'll be glad to. Or at least… I'll ask them."

"Okay, what about music? Well, definitely fifties of course. And then there's the dress code."

"Formal." Marty shouted. "Like a prom."

The girls murmured excitement.

"That's fine. Actually that will be nice. It's been a long time since we've had a formal dance. It will be a nice change." Ms. Simms said. "Thank you for those ideas, Marty."

Marty grinned. "You're welcome."

"Why don't we meet here at the same time on Monday? Here in the gym?"

"Great, I'll be here!" Marty said.

"Well until then, meeting adjourned."

Moments later as they walked hand in hand through the hallway toward the front door, Jennifer paused to look at her boyfriend. "Wow, that was…"

"What?"

"I just never imagined that you would be on a dance planning committee, let alone have so many ideas. I thought guys hated stuff like that."

Marty grinned. "Well, I guess some guys do, but actually it's kind of fun. So, do you think they really liked my ideas?"

"Well, Ms. Simms sure did, but Marty-."

"Look, I've gotta go. I promised the Doc that I'd stop by his house after school. I'll call you tonight."

"But-."

He kissed her quickly and darted off, leaving her even more confused. But she loved him and that was all that mattered. She could hardly wait for the dance.


End file.
